A knee implant has robbed Mel Brodsky of his speed, stolen his crossover dribble. But it has not damaged his shooting touch. Especially from a distance. “No kid beats me beyond the three-point line,” the owner of Camp Green Lane boasts. “I wish they had a three-point line when I played.” Brodsky had an eventful… Read more »
Joe Brown had hands hard enough to knock out a light-heavyweight and soft enough to sculpt a remarkable figure of a beaten boxer. His story is fascinating, the transformation from athlete to artist, from pugilist to Princeton professor, and his work brightens Philadelphia’s cultural landscape. Brown’s toughness was tested early, growing up in Grays Ferry…. Read more »
For forty-one years and three months, to be precise, Frank Dolson was a celebrated sportswriter and columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer . During his four decades of doing what he loved best, experiencing and reporting the world of sports, Dolson saw a number of managers and coaches come and go. “I’ve covered 16 Phillies managers,… Read more »
“Like mother, like daughter” is an adage that aptly describes Helen Josephs Goldstein and her daughter Estelle Goldstein, two outstanding athletes, sports pioneers and community leaders. Helen Goldstein had a passion for sports and would not be denied the joy of competition, but in the 1920s there were no leagues for her to compete in-or… Read more »
Ed Lerner sits there, watching guys making $9 million a year to play basketball, clanking free throw after free throw off the rim, and it makes him sick. “Easiest shot in the world,” Lerner explains. “You’re standing there, nobody bothering you, and you can’t make that shot?” Lerner made 97 percent of his foul shots… Read more »
Al Shrier went to work in Temple University’s athletic department when he graduated in 1953. Been there ever since. Never been bored. “I’ve done everything but coach,” Shrier says. “You’re in one place that long, you think you’ve seen everything. But something new pops up every day.” Shrier started as sports information director, moved into… Read more »
Some athletes know how to perform when it counts. Frank Spellman is one of them. His strength, determination and remarkable composure enabled him to win an Olympic Gold Medal and become a key contributor to the USA Weightlifting Team’s first victory at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. Competing in the Middleweight division, Spellman established… Read more »
